Testimonials / Feedback

Testimonial -The Burns family

Hi Jacqueline,

All I can say is “wow” south island NZ is just beautiful at every turn. Thankyou for all your local advice we really did see the best of the south island. We loved Kaiteriteri and loved Queenstown its the best. We would have liked more time in Lake Wanaka just because it looked like such a fun place. Milford sound boat trip was just amazing. Loved the big old boat & the weather was glorious for us. Highly recommend the funkyaks on the dart river it was so much fun well worth the money and staff are lovely. Thankyou again for making our NZ holiday unforgettable.

The Burns family

Testimonial – Rebecca

Hello Jaclyn

We had an amazing time with the recent trip and would go back again. The accommodation was perfect, great location and very friendly clean motel.

I put a review through on tripadvisor of our stay you can check it out on the below link.

I have to praise you for the amazing organising, patients and help that you gave myself and my family. I really appreciate everything that you did to help organise an amazing family holiday we would highly recommend you to everyone and will defiantly use your company again the future.

Thank you again

Kind regards

Rebecca Smithers

Testimonial – Jacqui

Dear Lisa,

On behalf of my daughter and I, we would like to thank you for our wonderful holiday experience in Fiji. From the moment we arrived everything ran smoothly, with transport connections, check ins and our champagne at the Outrigger and a lovely bottle of red at Castaway. My sister, Sharon and her daughter, Olivia also thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing stay and wish to pass on their thanks also.

Although my husband and son were unable to come, we still had a lovely time holidaying with other family members and I appreciate all the work involved at the last minute to change details to make it happen. We would thoroughly recommend a family holiday to Fiji through Shire Travel to others and in future we would love to book our next holiday through you.

Thank you once again.

Kind regards,

Jacqui

Testimonial – Sharon

Hi,

This is a quick email to thank you for organising our Fiji holiday. We loved Castaway Island and had a fabulous holiday. Castaway Island is a special place and we would thoroughly recommend it.

I really appreciate your advice that steered us away from Denarau as I don’t think we would bother with the 2 nights in Denarau next time.

Although, this would probably be a good place to holiday for families with pre-school age children who like resorts. Once kids are old enough to snorkel the island experience is essential. We even saw reef sharks, eagle rays, a sea snake while snorkeling at Castaway.

The Radisson Blu was fine although they messed up our reservation initially and we were put in a Guest Room. I complained and we were quickly moved to a One-Bedroom suite as specified on the itinerary.

Just shows you have to be on your toes.

Anyway, congrats on Shire Business Awards win and I am sure we will talk again next time we are organising a trip.

Thanks and Regards

Sharon Oldfield

Testimonial – Kelly

Hi,

We had a great time. Some feedback below:-

New York – this was our least favourite place. The city was dirty, noisy, smelly and the homeless people were everywhere which was very confronting. The hotel was lovely and very central (lots of Aussies at the hotel). We loved Tribeca and Chelsea. We also loved central park and made 3 trips. We hired a double stroller and walked everywhere which meant we saw a lot of the city on foot. We even walked from the hotel over the Brooklyn bridge. We researched the top kids playgrounds and visited the top 3 – this was fun and I would recommend it to other families. Having a long stay here was great as we all had jet lag for a week. The trip really took it out of us.

Montauk – this place was amazing!!! We loved it and would definitely go back. We took the jitney there but had to get a private transfer back to JKF due to our flight time. The hotel was perfect, our room was right on the beach and they had loads of activities for families. The local area was lovely too. If you get a chance to go – make a dinner reservation for Harvest – it was my favourite restaurant in the whole trip! We will definitely go back there. This was a real gem. It’s worth the 24 hours travel to get there!

Las Vegas – LOVED IT! There was so much to do that we will need to go back. The hotel was magnificent in every way. There was so much to do with the kids. They had a ball and so did we – thanks for the shopping vouchers – we had to buy extra luggage. I can’t wait to go back and stay there again.

Disneyland – was amazing. I would probably try the other Disneyland hotel for accommodation next time. The Disney hotel was good but the staff were not as on the ball as I would have imagined – we had some issues with our bill and they still haven’t been sorted out. The room upgrade was definitely worth it. You could eat all your meals there if you wanted to. They provided bottled water every day which was great. The character dining was my daughters favourite thing. The parks were amazing and the 4 day passes were excellent value. The kids loved everything about it and we had an absolute ball. Being so close to downtown Disney was great. We had fun from the moment we arrived.

The transfers to and from San Diego was great. It only took 1.5 hours there and a little over 2 to get to LAX. It was easy and time efficient. Much better than a bus or catching another plane!

San Diego – loved it. If I went back I would stay at the hotel Del in Coronado. We went for dinner twice it was so lovely. La Jolla was great and so was Belmont park. Sea world and the zoo were amazing. The city is gorgeous and I would recommend it to anyone. The Hilton wasn’t very nice. The room was tiny with hardly any storage. There was also no laundry which was a little inconvenient. The service was slow in the restaurant ( we actually left once it was so bad) and we never saw the bell man so had to arrange our own transport. The pool was very nice and they did smoares on the beach and played a movie every 2nd night for the kids. We really liked San Diego and weren’t too bothered about the hotel as we were not there much. The concierge was lovely and helped me planned some of our trips. There is so much to do here, especially with kids. It was a great place and I am very glad that we added it to the trip.

We had the best holiday ever. Thanks for arranging it for us. Everything went smoothly and we have fabulous memories of our trip. I’ll be in touch about our next adventure soon (we are thinking Broome or Hayman Island)

Thanks again. This was a perfect trip for our family.

Kelly

Testimonial – Susan Earl

Hi Lisa,

Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou – we had a great holiday.

Everything worked out perfectly. We had a great trip from airport to Shangrila with TTF they took care of all 10 of us it was a very fun trip (the champagne was flowing). Shangrila had our rooms ready and we got interconnecting ground floor family lagoon rooms in the wing we love (rms 114 & 115), Matt and the boys also survived their dive with the bull and tiger sharks so that is a tick off his bucket list!! Castaway was wonderful as usual but even better with the fabulous north side beach bures (bures 5 & 7) that we called home for 5 nights except they did try to put us in an island bure on the south side initially but that was quickly resolved.

The food had also improved from last year which was pleasing as we had taken out the meal deal, though the tide was not as high as last year which made it difficult to snorkel past late morning until late afternoon, but we all got our fair share of beautiful water, great weather, snorkelling, canoeing, etc and Charlize and I even managed to tear ourselves away and go for a bushwalk to the top of the island, Matt got in quite a few dives and Georgia also learnt how to Scuba Dive which was very exciting for her and a proud moment for her dad who can’t wait to have someone to dive with from the family, but I think it will be quite a few more years before I let her go down as far as him and with the creatures he swims with – NUTS!!!! Raddison as always (great beds) was a good little stop off before having to head back to reality we were not put in the wing I was hoping for but it was only for two nights so it was no problem and the spa treatment Kay and I had was heavenly. So all round thumbs up.

Thankyou for all the work you did to make our family holiday very memorable for all.

Looking forward to next year any suggestions???

Kind Regards

Susan Earl

Testimonial – Jenny Lavelle

Hi,

The trip was FANTASTIC!! I asked the boys which place they liked the best and they both instantly said, ‘Lombok’! The Lombok Oberoi was really fabulous and the staff so pleasant and well trained. It is more of an adults/couples resort – but my kids loved it! It’s a great location on a lovely quiet beach and it’s absolutely stunning. You said I’d love it and I did! I can highly recommend it and I hope you get to go, Danya, so thank you for a great recommendation.

Comparing Legian Beach Hotel and Bali Mandira, I think the LBH was more personal but the Mandira had the better swimming pools and was overall more busy and bigger. Both places were kid oriented – but the Mandira kids’ club was so pathetic that we didn’t use it at all. Both are in very handy locations.

The Maya Ubud was very classy and beautiful and the free shuttle service up to Ubud and back was great. They also drove you wherever you wanted to go locally for about A$5 and could pick you up from restaurants in Ubud at night. The Maya had an excellent ‘business centre’ room with 6 top quality Apple Mac computers to use, it you needed (and I did need to use them, at one stage). By contrast, the Bali Mandira charged by the half hour to use their facilities and they only had 4 old (13 years old), slow running PCs for guest use.

All the travel connections went like clockwork with good quality minivans (though the one from Padangbai to Ubud was a bit rundown). All staff and drivers that we encountered were lovely. The pick up at the airport went smoothly and we didn’t take too long to find our chaperone.

We felt really safe in every place we stayed and really enjoyed the chance to hang out in each others company. Overall, it was a wonderful holiday (though at times I half wished we had separate rooms because the 18yo vs 10yo did clash, on occasion!).

Thank you so much for putting together such an excellent package. We had a great trip, were spoiled and didn’t want to come home!

I can’t wait to go away again!

Cheers,

Jenny Lavelle

Testimonial – Monique

Hi Angela!

I’m so sorry about the delayed reply – its been busy trying to organise and adjust back into reality. The hotel was beautiful at Goa – I cant tell you the amount of times we both said “God love Angela, she knew exactly what we needed”.

And its true it was the best end to a crazy month, so relaxing, exactly what we needed – and great location in the middle of everything as well. We didn’t even bother doing day trips. Definitely recommend that to future clients!

So all in all, thank you so much for all your help – I cannot express that enough. You made everything so effortless and stress-free for us which was amazing!

Keep doing what you’re doing because your superb at your job J

All the best,

Monique

Testimonial – Jane Gillard

Hi Lisa,

We got back on Anzac Day.

Vomo is absolutely amazing, I didn’t think you could have that kind of holiday with kids in tow – think of splurging honeymoon style but with the family and everyone stays happy.

The garden room was incredibly spacious, Kate kept rolling out of her bed so we put her mattress on the floor – and it wasn’t in the way!

If we ever feel we can afford Vomo again the beachfront room would be nicer purely because of beach proximity but it is an extra $350 a day.

The food is exquisite – better than 5 star, I almost felt like I had a personal chef.

Breakfast starts with a buffet of cereals, yoghurts, pastries & fresh fruit followed by an a la carte hot menu , with the best eggs benedict I’ve ever tasted and selection of freshly squeezed juices in their own little bottle. When you order a child’s portion of the meal that’s exactly what you get, just enough for a child without the fancy stuff kids don’t eat.

Lunch & dinner are 3 courses both start with a selection of tiny homemade bread rolls, dinner you also gets an ‘amuse’ to start. At the first meal we thought the portions were a bit small – but we soon worked out that this way you actually have room for dessert at every meal. There is a good selection of meats & seafoods, curries etc. The island has its own ‘kitchen garden’ so the veggies are all fresh & perfect.

The kids menu was also really varied, high quality with healthier options and good portion sizes.

We put the kids into kids club about half of the time and every night. Kids eat at 6, adult dinner starts at 7, giving you an hour for cocktails at the Rocks bar to watch the sunset. The cocktails aren’t free but reasonably priced and the nibblies (chicken or beef marinated skewers) that come out are a nice touch.

The kids village is air conditioned, has a big movie / down time area, separate play/dress up area. Outside is a small jungle gym, a large lawn & a cubby house. Because it was school holidays there were about 12 girls aged 4-8 plus our girls – so lots of fun for the girls.

Mostly however the staff were just lovely. Ilai (pronounced Ee lie) was the best guest relations person I have ever come across –worldwide. My girls were in love with him, he made them feel so special. All the staff are really friendly they all introduce themselves, most shake your hand and then they remember your name (and the kids names) for the rest of your stay. When you arrive they welcome you by saying “Welcome home”

The ocean, beaches and coral are stunning and half the time we would be the only people you could see in the ocean, the rest of the time there might be one other family. We took both kids snorkelling off the beach first and then on the daily boat ride out to the outer ridge of the reef.

I must say coming back to Raddison Blu on Denarau, was a bit of a shock. Mainly from the sudden increase in people, we also didn’t get the best reception.

We were told the directions to our room (not escorted),when I asked which restaurant to take the kids to (it was just after 6pm) the lady on reception just listed the restaurants in the resort with no description of any of them. We then waited for 45 minutes and our bags still hadn’t arrived to our room so we went to the buffet restaurant (with now quite hungry grumpy kids, one still in swimmers) to find the kids club had just been through so there was no kids food left. It wasn’t long before it was replaced but …

Any of these things alone and I wouldn’t have even noticed but together, it made quite a bad impression. I believe they were at 95% capacity so obviously the staff were stretched.

From then on things greatly improved, the kids did love the water slide, but I suppose the friendliness of the staff we experienced in Vomo was just missing, once we made the first effort at friendliness they were great but really we could have been on the Gold Coast.

Give me a ring if you want to get any more details about Vomo, I’d love to tell you more about it!

Thanks for another absolutely fantastic holiday.

Jane Gillard

Testimonial

Hi Lisa

Wow! JMC was everything you said and more. The Bula Club program was truly amazing and probably the best the kids have experienced. Bili loved spending time with his Buddy Davis and making friends with the four boys in the group. Climbing coconut trees, catching and racing hermit crabs, day and night snorkelling, soccer, table tennis and the list goes on…the Fijian people were brilliant.

Should’ve taken your advice sooner on JMC, anyone with kids needing a relaxing break should just GO.

Testimonial – Christine Champion

Hi Lisa Allan,

Firstly I wanted to thank you for all of your help, advice and patience with organising our recent trip to the US. We had an absolutely fantastic time, and that was to a large extent due to the excellent advice and organisation from you.

We particularly loved The Four Seasons in Vegas which was a lovely respite from the chaos (and tackiness!) of Vegas. The helicopter trip was amazing (although we felt rushed at the Grand Canyon). Disneyland was fantastic, and Mexico (and the Mexicans) were beautiful. The food on the boat was good and the service fantastic. The kids didn’t use the kids club much because our youngest was in a different group to the other 2 and didn’t want to go on his own. The big problem with the cruise was that there was only 2 pools – one which didn’t welcome kids, so the main one we used had loud music blasting in our ears for a lot of the time, which wasn’t quite the relaxing experience we were hoping for! The water slide was also too slow for our adventurous kids. Also, little things like the transfers you organised for us all worked perfectly, which made the holiday relaxing and easy. We’re very glad we didn’t hire a car!

Our overwhelming response to the holiday was we just LOVED it.

Thanks again and kind regards,

Christine Champion

Testimonial – Penny Hanan

Hi Lisa

We had a wonderful holiday – the itinerary was fantastic! Our guides were all very efficient, informative & helpful. It was a special family break for us.

The Metropole was a perfect start in Hanoi

The cruise in Ha Long Bay was super. We were on ‘The Ginger’ & enjoyed the activity day with a bike ride through the national Park & kayaking. It was very well organised & a perfect mix of relaxing and adventuring.

The Nam Hai was a stand-out as far as accommodation – we loved it! The Red Bridge Cooking School was great fun & well organised & we enjoyed the bike ride around Hoi An & the herb farm. Again, it was a good balance of relaxing and adventuring.

We thought the Everson Ana Mandara in Nha Trang was a bit tired though. It was ok, but Nha Trang just was a bit tinny for us (lots of Russians) & we were spoilt in Hoi An.

Saigon & the Intercon were also great – the Cu Chi tunnels were a highlight.

On reflection we would not recommend Nha Trang as a stop-over. Probably spending an extra 2 days in Hoi An (they already had 4 nights there) to allow for a full-day trip to Hue – we spoke to several people who said it was a beautiful town & really worth visiting. We would also have had an extra night & day in Saigon.

The tour group was very professional, friendly & helpful. We felt safe and relaxed at all times. We were contacted twice by their office while in Vietnam to ensure everything was running smoothly – a great service. We really loved Vietnam – the chaos, the people & the food. We would love to return to Saigon, head south & then travel to Cambodia…. Next time!

Thanks Penny Hanan

Testimonial – Guy Fergusson

Lisa,

We had a ball and it was exactly the “medicine” we needed to rejuvenate the whole family. The Westin was excellent – impeccably maintained, the double room well configured, kids club fab especially for the younger two and Georgie and I spent plenty of time by the pool and at the cocktail bar. Nusa Dua was a nice little enclave. Other highlights were:

– Waterbom Park

– Bali Safari and Marine Park; and

– The Rock Bar at The Ayana.

Thanks again, as the holiday all worked well. The red eye home was tough going.

Cheers

Guy Fergusson

Testimonial – Sonia Weber

Hey Lisa,

We all loved our trip to New Zealand! Thanks for organising it!

It was jam packed with activities and next time I think I will just stay a whole week in Hanmer Springs! Loved that place the best, and the accommodation there was the nicest and most comfortable by far.

Talk to you soon when we want our next trip. Probably next year. J

Kind Regards

Sonia Weber

Testimonial – Sarah

Hi Angela,

Thanks for your email and sorry for the delay in replying – I’ve been resisting getting back to normality after our wonderful holiday.

We had a fantastic time – everything went completely to plan – we felt very well looked after every step of the way and the trip was full of so many highlights it’s hard to know where to start.

I guess if I had to pick I would say the Sandakan, Turtle Island and Kinabatangang River section was the best in terms of wildlife and friendly people – we would have liked longer on both Turtle Island and at the River Lodge.

Then for luxury and relaxation the Rasa Ria was such a wonderful way to end the trip – and we were very fortunate to get upgraded to a ground floor Ocean Wing room so we felt even more spoilt.

In terms of feedback for future trips I would probably say that, in hindsight, the itinerary was a bit too full with a few too many early starts and moving around but having said that it`s hard to say what we would have left out.

So thank you for putting together a trip of a lifetime. I have been very impressed with all your attention to detail and will certainly be recommending you and Shire Travel to friends and colleagues.

Thank you again and I’ll be in touch when we’re ready to book our next big trip.

Cheers,

Sarah

Testimonial – Jaclyn Boes

Hi Lisa,

Had a fantastic time. Everything went smoothly. We loved the resort, lots to do, great pool area and lots of restaurants. Mia’s head was fine, we took the stitches out ourselves with no problems.

Thanks so much for your help with this.

Cheers,

Jaclyn

Testimonial – Sandra McCarthy

Dear Lisa

Thanks for your great service it isn’t often these days that you get the type of service if you have given me. I won’t hesitate to use you again and to pass this on to my friends.

Thanks again

Sandra McCarthy

Testimonial – Ren

Hi,

Thanks so much for sending our little pack and chiaras pressie! Very kind of you

Thank you also for all of your help and for going back and forth for us xx

Really appreciate it

Love

Ren xx

Testimonial – Warren Hardie & Donna Paterson

Hi Angela

We had a great time in Bali thanks. Everything that you organised for us went smoothly & according to plan.

The transfer company were really organised & friendly. They would fax us confirmation the day before with the times that we were to be transferred. Which was great – one less thing for us to do!

Garuda was fantastic with Nathan’s meals.

The Kartika was foodie heaven!!! And the meals were reasonably priced. We ate dinner there every night except one. The staff were amazing, they couldn’t do enough for us – they were so friendly.

I knew the Legian Beach Hotel was going to be more traditional than the Kartika. The room was fine, but the breakfast was disappointing compared to The Kartika. Nathan’s comment was ‘That’s not a buffet breakfast’.

I enjoyed shopping at Legian more than Tuban, which was a bit sleazy.

We did all the touristy things.

Thank you Angela for your patience, friendliness and expert advice when dealing with my never ending stream of emails.

I will highly recommend you Angela & Shire Travel to everyone!

Once again thank you for making our holiday fabulous!!!

Kind regards

Warren Hardie & Donna Paterson

Testimonial – Damian Marruci

Dear Lisa, Thank you so much for organising our holiday to Fiji – it was fantastic. Kim and the boys loved Jean Michael Coustea – your flowers were also a lovely gift. Damian Marruci

Testimonial – Castaway Island Fiji

Thanks again for organising the trip, everything went very smoothly. We were in our Bure by 2pm.

Everything was on time and connected well. The speedboat was waiting, which was good because we were at the Port around 1ish. Speed boat trip to Castaway was a bit rough for the wife and kids.

Our only problem was that 7 nights at Castaway was not long enough, we all enjoyed it thoroughly to the point our daughter didn’t want to leave and started crying. Trip back went very smoothly albeit a bit rushed, but we got some Pure Fiji Duty Free and onto the plane on time so that was good.

Virgin flights were on time and even landed ahead of time, which was great, but if it wasn’t for their more convenient departure times I wouldn’t fly them Internationally again. Other than that we all had a fantastic week, so much so that we are talking about doing it again next March. I’ll come back to you on that as we are trying to get my wife’s sister from the UK to join us.

Thanks again and speak soon.

Peter Jarjoura

Testimonial – Lisa Gill

Hi Lisa,

Sorry it has taken me so long to write you a big email of thanks for all your work on our trip.

We had a really great time and it all went seamlessly well, all the seats and transfers were all there and the room with a view and balcony at the Sheraton and the Sheraton in general was fantastic, and as you said close to everything. We managed to see some fireworks on Tuesday night, the Friday night ones were on early so we missed them but the kids were out on their feet, great news.

The seats on Delta were as expected but the kids really enjoyed the entertainment and its is not often I get to watch anything I want to so I got a lot of movies in too.

We ended up going to Disneyland later in the week as the weather for the first three days was very wet and overcast,

Tuesday at Universal was pretty wet, but the kids ended up on the I-Fly which they really loved. Personally I liked the Simpsons ride the best. But Donkey was very funny and the kids loved speaking to him.

Vancouver and Whistler (one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and there wasn’t even any snow) was fantastic we did the Zip trekking down the mountains above Whistler which was amazing. Really loved that place, shame I am too old for a work visa.

Shopping as you would expect was good, and we managed to find fairly decent food in LA, although sadly not coffee for Bren, I think he walked for about 20mins each morning to a place he found that at least had a real

espresso machine.

Thanks also for the frequent flyers, I have actually bought more since as I felt great.

Anyway thank you again, and you never know when we might be off again so I will be sure to contact you then.

Here are a couple of photos,,

All the very best to you.

Kind regards,

Lisa Gill

Testimonial – Andrea

Hi Lisa ~ I see a bunch of emails from you, haven’t gotten to them yet, but wanted to say thank you SO much. Working with you is a pleasure! It is so great to be able to leverage your expertise to make the logistics easy and effortless so most of our energy can go into enjoying ourselves!

I am so glad I reached out to you — you’re the best! thanks again! Andrea

Testimonial – Skye, Harry & Ben

Dear Lisa & Carissa

We just wanted to say “Thank you” for making our holiday in Four Seasons Bali just so divine, we had the best time! And your professionalism & care was just fantastic! Cheers Skye, Harry & Ben x

Testimonial – Andrea

Here you go Lisa! So yes. We’ll need transportation to and from the islands and doing both, as you laid out in the last email sounds perfect!

Mike is very excited that I contacted you, he said “she has great taste” 😉

Thanks again!!

Andrea

More Details…

Testimonial – Jo Tait

Hi Lisa,I just wanted to thank you for organising our wonderful holiday to Four Seasons Bali. We had a very special family holiday that none of us will ever forget. I really want to thank you for being so helpful in the changing of all our flights with such late notice. It was such a relief to have you sort it all out for me. Looking forward to out trip to Langkawi now. Warmest Regards Jo Tait

Testimonial – Polly Poon

Dear Lisa, We’ve been back from our little trip to Tangalooma and Brisbane for three weeks now and the children are still talking about the things they did. Thank you for recommending (and organising ) the perfect family break for us. – Polly Poon

Testimonial – Robyn Meakins

Hi Lisa Had a brilliant time thanks to your great advice! We had a lovely trip and all enjoyed it, the twins spent about 6 hours a day in the pools and slept very well! Oh, we had at least 3 minutes of rain over the whole 10 days , perfect! – Robyn Meakins

Testimonial – John Wilson

Lisa That was the best family holiday we have ever had, I don’t know how you will top this one next year! – John Wilson

Testimonial – New Zealand

Hey Lisa,

We all loved our trip to New Zealand! Thanks for organising it!

It was jam packed with activities and next time I think I will just stay a whole week in Hamner Springs! Loved that place the best, and the accommodation there was the nicest and most comfortable by far.

Talk to you soon when we want our next trip. Probably next year. J

Kind Regards

Sonia Weber

Testimonial – Mololo

Hi Lisa,

Sorry for the delay in reply, our modem blew up whilst we were away… I missed a power point, oops.

Mololo was the most relaxing family holiday we have ever had!

Everything was just fantastic, the food, the staff, the accommodation, just enough activity to not feel like a sloth and happy hour to watch the sun set every evening.

No one wanted to come home.

It was awesome

Thank you

Jane Gillard

Testimonial – Kota Kinabalu

Hi Lisa,

I am writing to thank you for organising our trip. We had a great time and were constantly pleased at how smoothly everything went.

The Shangri La in Kota Kinabalu was a great place to stay with the kids. Plenty for all of us to do. The rooms were great and the food fantastic.

The trip to the Kimbanchang River was really amazing. The boys were old enough to enjoy it but I wouldn’t recommend it for children much younger than 6 unless they are infinitely patient and like sitting quietly. We were lucky enough to see Orangutangs, proboscis monkeys and loads of different birds. Also, it would be good to recommend people take gumboots for their kids as they have a limited supply of children’s boots. At one point we were traipsing through mud up to our ankles. We didn’t take any extra food for the kids snacks etc and there were’t any shops. mealtimes were set at certain times of the day. It was a fantastic experience that we won’t forget quickly.

Lastly, the Novotel in KL was really good. Centrally located for shopping. The swimming pool was very clean but a little tired – certainly nothing to worry about. And we had one of our best meals at the restaurant across the road called Hakka (try the salt and pepper squid and the river prawns).

All our connections, transfers went smoothly and we had a great time.

Now it is back to work, school and saving up for the next holiday.

Thanks Anna Low

Testimonial – Bali

Hey Lisa

Thank you so much for your message, so sweet of you!

yes Bali was fabulous. most beautiful holiday. everything went so swimmingly and loved every minute of it. hard to come back to wear sleeves again!

the accommodation was fantastic. the Villa Seminyak estate and spa a real find. I would definitely stay there again. the 2 bedroom deluxe villa was enormous – 2 good sized bedrooms, a large pool, garden, cooking facilities (if you’re in to that sort of thing!), and 2 bathrooms. the main pool was gorgeous too. and the main breakfast area great, staff divine, and great location. a little walk and you are on Jalan Legian opposite the Bintang supermarket so it’s perfect.

the transfers with freestyle were great too. we had a delightful guide called Noah, who actually took us to Ubud for a day, and drive us to the Lombok transfer and then we got him for the airport transfer too for our way home. he was lovely. so helpful.

Gili Trawangan was a highlight. getting there with blue water was smooth sailing. all connections worked and despite a very rough trip on the way back (VERY seasick), all went well. Vila Ombak was lovely. great for kids, right on the beach, big pool so good for the kiddies. the room was OK, would have preferred a little hut on the stilts, but ours was fine. big room, outside bathroom, just a bit boring and not really worth the money. BUT what a divine island. definitely recommend that place. fantastic snorkelling (swimming with turtles!), amazing white sands and blue water, and the food was fantastic. good to walk around the island too, and loved the no cars policy and the horses and carts!

we went back to Villa Seminyak and stayed in the Jacuzzi villa which was great. bit smaller than the deluxe, but very modern rooms and bathrooms etc. all perfect.

So THANK you so so much Lisa for helping out with our holiday. it was seriously beautiful and very hard to settle back into St Leonards!!